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These Are The Performance Secrets Top Athletes Use To Succeed Every Time

29th January 2021

29th January 2021

By Shivraj Bassi

Top athletes are some of the more elite performers there are. They perform in public again and again, pushing their bodies and minds to the absolute limit in pursuit of a world record, a team goal or a personal best. 

Performing at such a high level can be mentally taxing, especially when you’re at the Olympics or other high-calibre competitions. To deal with this and to perform at their best, professional athletes use a variety of techniques to keep their head in the game, maximise mental acuity and generally set themselves up for the performance of a lifestyle every time they run, swim, fight or play. 

While we might not be top athletes paid to participate in a sport (although when you use Innermost products such as The Power Booster, which increases your strength and speed, and The Fit Protein, a protein blend designed for people who regularly push themselves further than most but refuse to let that compromise their performance, you’re definitely on the right path), you can still benefit from the secret techniques athletes use to get themselves to perform amazing. 

Find a positive mindset

Muhammad Ali is considered to be the greatest boxer of all time, and had to face some trying matches in his time. How did he get through the stress? He was famous for saying ‘I am the greatest’, a phrase he began repeating to himself long before he found success. He believed in his own abilities, and by telling himself so, he made it come true. Why don’t you try doing the same?

You’re not nervous, you’re excited

It’s all about finding the right angle. What if, when you’re shaking with nerves before the start of a big race you’re running, you told yourself that instead of being scared you were excited? This is a tactic used by track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, Britain’s most decorated Olympian with six gold medals. He said: ‘Never use the words nervous or anxious, use the words exciting and adrenalised.’

Photo by Simon Connellan on Unsplash

Accept failure

While failure might seem scary, if you’ve never failed then you’ve also never pushed past your comfort zone. When you fail, you rebuild stronger and better than before - it’s one of the best character-builders out there. Once you’ve failed and grown from the failure, you learn that it’s nothing to be scared off. By putting the fear behind you, you leave your mind clear to concentrate on pushing yourself beyond your limits, rather than being held back by irrational anxieties. 

Visualise, visualise, visualise

When you succeed at the sport or exercise you love, you feel amazing both inside and out. By holding on to that feeling and using it as a weapon against your own insecurities, you can beat your mind at its own game (of trying to psych you out, that is). 

Athletes such as Tiger Woods and Chuck Liddell utilise this technique, drawing on memories of times they were successful. As well as remembering the actions you took, such as the arc of a perfect golf club swing, they remember what they felt like inside their minds at that winning moment. By holding that feeling inside you, you can use the energy from it to repeat the successful action again and again. 

Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman in recorded history, uses this performance secret to win her races - because she’s already raced in her mind and succeeded. She said: ‘I might visualise the final...I run through it as if I'm running it. It's quite fun. You kind of have to win or else there's no point.’

Ask for help

Yes, you’re the person who’s dragging yourself out of bed at 5am every morning to get to the gym before the sun comes up. But you’re not the only one making your success happen. There’s your partner, who listens to you talk endlessly about weights and cycling times over dinner, your friends, who come to your races to cheer as you cross the finish lines, your trainer, who gives you encourage when you need it the most and even the cleaners at your gym who keep the changing rooms spic and span, enabling you to take a welcome hot shower after a a sweaty bout on the treadmill. 

A great example of this is when Kenyan long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge broke the two-hour marathon record in 2019. It might have been his feet hitting the pavement, but he had assistance from 41 pacemakers as well as the thousands of supporters who came to the event to cheer from the crowd. In fact, Kipchoge even asked the general public to come to the event because he knew he would run better with their support. Don’t be afraid to lean on your network when you need to - that’s what they’re there for. 

Don’t cave into pressure

Finally, a tip from Maggie Alphonsi MBE, who has represented England for rugby no less than 74 times. She said: ‘My biggest tip for holding your nerve under pressure is to attack it head on. Don't fear it but thrive on the pressure. To know people expect great things from me is an amazing feeling and I use that to block out any nerves I have. I also remind myself that I've done all the hard work to get to this point so I will be fine.’

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When it comes to improving your fitness levels, lifestyle and nutrition are key. From the number of hours of sleep you get each night to your daily nutrition and everything in between, each is as important as the other. This extends to finding the right protein powder to fuel your workout routine. Yet today more than ever, what goes into that shaker bottle now goes beyond macros and muscle; more and more people are asking themselves – ‘how does this protein powder align with my religious values and beliefs?’ While we’ve spoken before about our clean, research based and ethically sourced ingredients here at Innermost, this time we want to get a little more specific with a focus on halal and halal protein powder. With so many voices and fluff information around, it can be difficult to know exactly what protein is and isn’t halal friendly. That’s why we’ve put together this nifty guide. We’re going to break down all the myths and everything you need to know about halal protein. What you should be looking out for, what makes proteins like whey halal friendly as well as the benefits that halal friendly protein can offer to your body.  Right, let’s get into it. What is halal protein? I’m sure most of you are already aware of halal, but for the 1% of you that might not be, let’s take a step back and ask: what is halal protein? Halal – meaning ‘permissible’ in Arabic – refers to any food product that complies with Islamic dietary laws as stated within the Qur’an and Islamic jurisprudence. This makes it a core element of Islamic faith and a key cornerstone of their commitment to leading a pure and disciplined life under the guidance of Allah. Some of the key guidelines for halal foods include: Halal friendly ingredients – certain ingredients are not permissible under a halal diet, including pork (and any byproducts), alcohol and blood. Other animal products can be halal as long as they are killed in accordance with the ethical treatment guidelines below. Ethical treatment of animals – For non-pork meats to be considered halal, animals must be treated humanly and responsibly during their life. This includes: Having access to clean water and nutritious food. Being raised in a free-range and stress-free environment. Not being subjected to cruelty, abuse, or unnecessary suffering. The process of killing any animal must also be quick and humane to be considered halal, with any suffering kept to the complete minimum. Importantly, to be considered halal, the name of Allah must be pronounced during the humane killing to ensure the sanctity of life is recognised throughout the process. No cross contamination - During the preparation process, halal foods must never come into contact with non halal foods. This means no cross contamination between preparation surfaces, equipment used, the handling of foods and storage. As such, ingredients such as milk can be halal however it depends on the production process and if additional non-halal additives (such as gelatin) are added. So, what does this mean for protein?  Essentially any animal protein is halal as long as it adheres to the guidelines we’ve mentioned. The best way to tell is that products – such as Innermost proteins - will be certified halal friendly on the packaging. Is protein powder halal? So, with that said you might be wondering: is my choice of protein powder halal? The truth is that protein powder can absolutely be halal, however it entirely depends on the ingredients used as well as the overall production process. Common protein sources like whey, casein, egg white, and plant-based proteins (such as pea, soy, or rice) can all be halal if they are sourced and manufactured in compliance with halal standards. While many of the larger brands do not meet these standards and cannot claim to offer halal protein, our range of Innermost protein powders and supplements are all certified halal, emphasising our dedication to ethical sourcing our use of clean sourcing without additives. From our pea protein fuelled (and vegan) The Health Protein, The Fit Protein, to our whey protein powered The Strong Protein and The Lean Protein, all our products are sourced in a halal-compliant manner. Benefits of halal protein powder You hear it all the time when it comes to ethical and dietary beliefs – ‘a vegan diet isn’t good for you’ or ‘a vegetarian mix can’t possibly have the nutrients you need. The reality is, that adhering to these sorts of values within your fitness routine and diet can have great benefits for the body. Halal protein powders are no different; they offer a range of benefits for individuals who are conscious of both their health and dietary requirements. Just some of the benefits of halal protein powder are: Clean ingredients: With halal protein powders, you can be confident that there will be no harmful or questionable ingredients/ additives such as silica. What does this mean? Your body has an easier job digesting and absorbing all the good stuff, ensuring you get the most out of your supplements. Quality protein: Halal protein powders use complete protein sources, ensuring your body gets all the amino acids it needs for effective muscle repair and growth.  Ethical production: We’ve mentioned plenty of times already, but that’s just how key ethical and clean production is to making protein halal. By avoiding things such as additional additives and cross contamination, your body is fuelled with a safer and more trustworthy supplement. Supports fitness and wellness goals: Whatever your fitness goals; halal protein has you covered. From building muscle to losing weight, the absence of excess sugars or fillers ensures you are best placed to smash your targets. Common misconceptions about halal protein powders With so much noise and no real answers around halal proteins, we thought it would be helpful to list of some of the key misconceptions regarding the diet and what the actual truths are. All vegan protein powders are halal Given that so much of halal is driven by animals and their ethical treatment, you might just assume every vegan protein powder is halal because it is made of.. well, plants. The reality however is that vegan proteins aren’t necessarily halal – it all comes down to the production process. While Innermost vegan proteins are proudly halal certified, other protein powders can be produced with alcohol-based flavourings, non-halal emulsifiers, or might be processed in facilities that handle haram products – leading to cross contamination – not good! Is whey protein halal? On the other side of the spectrum, whey protein – being a byproduct of milk – is generally considered to be haram. Again, the truth is that whey protein can be halal provided that the milk is taken from cows that were treated ethically and within halal principles. Today, there are many halal-certified whey protein powders that are safe and effective for Muslim consumers. Halal certification doesn’t matter There is often an assumption made that if the ingredients look clean then the protein must be halal – regardless of certification. The truth is that what makes something halal goes beyond ingredients. Production and sourcing our also key factors that many companies do not consider. With halal certification on your favourite protein powders, you can be sure that every step—from sourcing and production to packaging and distribution—has been reviewed and approved according to strict halal standards.  Is Innermost protein powder halal? In short, yes. We at Innermost make it our mission to not only aid in muscle growth and recovery, but also to create protein supplements that are ethically sourced and rigorously tested to ensure individuals of any faith can smash their fitness goals.  Unlike competitors, our proteins are clean and built with the highest quality of ingredients and free from unnecessary additives and artificial ingredients.   We are proud to say that all our products are officially halal certified making them a suitable choice for those following the halal beliefs. This certification ensures that all ingredients and manufacturing processes meet Islamic dietary laws, with no use of haram substances such as pork derivatives or alcohol. With this in mind, why not check out our range of Innermost supplements to find out more about our halal proteins?     Read more
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